Organisational Behaviour_ EL report

Organisational Behaviour: EL Report

Kayla Brown 10181214 Page 1 of 16

- Organisational Behaviour-

Report: Emotional Labour within the Service Orientated Occupational Groups

Kayla Brown

10181214

Edith Cowan University



Contents

1.0 Introduction P 3

2.0 Discussion P 5

2.1 Overview of theories and concepts P 5

2.1.1 Surface and deep acting P 6

2.1.2 Affective events theory P 6

2.1.3 Emotion regulation theory P 7

2.2 Factors influencing emotional labour P 7

2.2.1 Organisational influences P 7

2.2.2 Individual emotions P 8

2.3 Implications on organisational behaviour P 9

2.3.1 Employee performance P 9

2.3.2 Employee turnover P 10

3.0 Conclusion P 11

4.0 References P 12

5.0 Appendices P 15

Appendix 1A: flow chart- emotional labour P 15

Appendix 1B: Pret-A-Manger media article P 16



1.0 Introduction

The substantial global growth of the service sector has influenced an increase in

interpersonal transactions/service transactions in such occupations, along with the

establishment of new role requirements Influenced by “divergent polarised conceptualisation

of rationality and emotions in the workplace” (Hatznikolakis & Crossman, 2010, p. 426). The

growth and expansion of the service sector has had the impact of increasing competition,

consequently resulting in organisations implementing and promoting emotional labour (EL)

strategies, such as ‘service with a smile’, to maintain competitive advantage (Goodwin,

Groth, & Frenkel, 2011; Grandey, Rupp, & Brice, 2015). In the study of organisational

behaviour, it is important to consider the role of emotions in workplace behaviour as it may

influence and determine employee performance and organisation competitive advantage

(Grandey & Gabriel, 2015).

The concept of emotional labour derived from Hochschild, A, 1983 in the ‘The Managed

Heart’ publication (Goodwin et al., 2011; Grandey & Gabriel, 2015). For much of the

twentieth century the perception of emotional display within the work-place environment was

considered generally to be “discouraged as disruptive, illogical, biased and weak, an

anathema to sensible, intelligent, goal orientated and instrumental workplace cultures”

(Hatznikolakis & Crossman, 2010, p.426). Emotional labour refers to a situation in which

employees’ practice various strategies to regulate their emotions during interpersonal

transactions as a requirement of organisational emotional display rules (Goodwin et al., 2011;

Tang, Seal, Naumann & Miguel, 2013). Therefore the contemporary employee is expected to

regulate emotion displays to align with the organisationally-desired norms, for example a

nurse is expected to express empathy and a sales assistant is expected to express

responsiveness (Pisaniello, Winefield & Delfabbro, 2012). This has the consequence of some

employees experiencing an estrangement between genuinely felt emotions and expected

emotional displays (Goodwin et al., 2011; Maini & Chugh, 2012).

This report aims to conceptualise the link between emotional labour strategies and

core job performance within the service oriented occupation groups.

Limitations of the report include its lack of consideration that emotional variables

vary as a function of the cultural context under consideration. This factor is integral as



cultural differences in work emotions are important in contemporary organisational

behaviour (Allen, Diefendorff & Ma, 2014).

The report begins by reviewing literature on emotional labour theory which builds the

theoretical foundation for the report. The report then explores the relevant influencing

factors of emotional labour such as organisational influences, and individual emotions;

before interpreting the implications they impose. The report concludes with the

recommendation that organisations should consider replacing emotion display policies

and rules with practices which support and value employees.



2.0 Discussion

Emotional labour strategies are particularly important in the context of service

orientated occupational groups, as employee behaviour and success of abiding by behaviour

scripts (smiling, eye-contact, voice tone), during interpersonal transactions is a critical aspect

influencing the customer’s perception of service quality (Goodwin, et al., 2011; Lapointe,

Morin, courey, Boilard, & Payette, 2012; Maini & Chugh, 2012; Tang et al., 2013). This is

exemplified by a statement excerpted from Grandey et al. (2015, p. 770), in regards to a

Starbucks barista employees job being more than just serving coffee, “she also needs to be

polite, even friendly, to the customers. If she does her job correctly. Then maybe the

customer will walk away feeling like the barista was actually happy to serve them, that it was

not only her job, but a genuine pleasure,” this media quote echoes the concern of why

emotional labour is necessary.

2.1 Overview of theories and concepts

The understanding of emotional labour is essential within the service industry as both

theory and empirical evidence suggest that, personal and event characteristics, emotional

labour (emotion requirements, emotion regulation, emotion performance), and relational and

context factors, are integral to an employee’s work-life experience and well-being (Goodwin

et al., 2011). This is further illustrated in appendix A (Grandey & Gabriel, 2015).

Empirical evidence demonstrates that surface and deep acting often yield divergent

outcomes for employees, particularly regarding their well-being (Goodwin et al., 2011).

Emotional regulation strategies, when applied to employee-customer interactions, mirror the

concepts of deep acting, whereby the modification of felt emotions occurs in anticipation of

perceived discrepancy between actual felt emotions and required emotions; and surface

acting, whereby emotions not actually felt are expressed as a consequence to suppressing felt

emotions, amplifying weak emotions, and faking emotions (Blau, Fertig, Tatum,

Connaughton, Park, & Marshal, 2010; Goodwin et al., 2011).

Grandey et al. (2015) argue that emotional labour is an unfair labour practice as

employees are subjected to distributive injustice, interactional injustice, and procedural

injustice as employees within the service industry endure being undervalued within the

organisation, disrespected by customers, as well as being self-undermined by organisational



policies. Literature identifies that it is a common occurrence for employees in the service

context to experience harassment as a consequence to a customer’s misinterpretation of the

emotional labour requirements, and the abuse of power in the service context is often

experienced by service providers (Grandey et al., 2015).

2.1.1 Surface and deep acting.

Surface acting typically has more detrimental outcomes, such as job performance and

cognitive cost, than deep acting (Goodwin et al., 2011). Cho et al. (2013, p. 671) identifies

the differences between emotional labour acting types, stating that “while deep acting

attempts to modify internal feelings to be consistent with display rules, surface acting

modifies outward displays to be consistent with display rules”. This is further supported by

Goodwin et al’s (2011) findings which suggest that although deep acting requires initial

emotion-regulation, from a cumulative perspective the strategy does not necessitate constant

emotional regulation, such as suppression and masking affiliated with maintaining

conflicting internal feelings and emotion displays, that surface acting does (Goodwin et al.,

2011). Surface acting influences negative interpersonal outcomes (emotional exhaustion and

feelings of inauthenticity), in comparison to deep acting which studies suggest have a positive

influence on an individual’s, perception of enhanced job satisfaction, improved service

delivery outcomes, and employee/organisational performance (Goodwin et al., 2011),

In addition it may be argued that deep acting is the preferred emotional labour

strategy for employees to engage in as it is considered more constructive, although it remains

a concern that this strategy is not positively related to well-being (Goodwin et al., 2011;

Humphrey, Ashforth, & Diefendorff, 2015).

2.1.2 Affective events theory

Affective events theory is relevant when analysing emotions in organisations, as

according to the macro-level perspective, “the nature of the job and the requirements for

emotional labour affect behaviour and work attitudes”, (Cho, Rutherford & Park, 2013, p.

671). Therefore employee’s positive and negative emotional reactions are influenced by a

combination of daily events, the work environment and personal dispositions, which

subsequently influence an employee’s experience of job satisfaction, job performance, and

organisational commitment (Cho et al., 2013). The theory highlights the relation between



employee’s internal influences (emotions, mental states) and their influence on an

individual’s reactions to situations which subsequently determine an employee’s attitude, job

satisfaction, and performance (Humphrey et al., 2015).

2.1.3 Emotion regulation theory

The micro-level emotion regulation theory suggests that employee’s emotional labour

strategies have well-being outcomes for individuals as well as the organisations (Cho et al.,

2013; Goodwin et al., 2011). Such outcomes are associated with job satisfaction, job stress,

performance, and turnover (Grandey et al., 2015). Individuals engage in two different

emotion regulation strategies, antecedent-focused emotion regulation which manipulates

input and is commonly affiliated with emotional labour; and response-focused emotion

regulation strategies which manipulate output (Cho et al., 2013; McCance, Nye, Wang, Jones,

& Chiu, 2013). Emotional labour is affiliated with antecedent-focused emotion as it relates to

the strategy of avoiding, altering, or re-evaluating situations and people on the basis of their

probable emotional impact (Cho et al., 2013).

2.2 Factors influencing emotional labour

A combination of influencing factors on emotional labour, such as the expectation of

positive emotion requirements coupled with negative working environments has costs to

employee well-being and subsequently organisational sustainability (Grandey & Diamond,

2010; Grandey et al., 2015). This is the result of a depletion of regulating emotions and the

draining experience of dissonance from the incongruence of internal states and required

emotional displays, creating a state of tension and influencing negative employee citizenship

performance (Cho et al., 2013; Maini & Chugh, 2012; Grandey et al., 2015). The ‘ego-

depletion’ theory further supports the notion that factors influencing emotional labour present

a struggle for an employee in the service context to maintain emotion regulation (Cho et al.,

2013; Ramachandran, Jordan, Troth, & Lawrence, 2011).

2.2.1 Organisational influences

Emotional displays are commonly required and enforced within organisations to

improve organisation competitive advantage through improving the public’s perception of the

organisation, thus improving customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utilisation of



employee’s emotions as an economic commodity (Grandey et al., 2015; Humphrey, 2012;

McCance et al., 2013). Organisations use emotional labour (imbedded in organisation

culture) as a commodity to differentiate their organisation from their competitors through the

use of slogans such as an airline service encouraging customers to “fly the friendly skies”

(Lee, An, & Noh, 2015; Grandey et al., 2015). The organisation ‘Pret-A-Manger’ further

exemplifies this through the practice of ‘enforced happiness’ on its employees and the

statement that ‘'Pret doesn't merely want its employees to lend their minds and bodies; it

wants their souls too’, (appendix B) (McDermott, 2013).

Environmental conditions and events influence an employee’s ability to maintain a

positive demeanour, such as, low pay, job monotony, lack of organisational support, and

workin anti-social long hours which is becoming more prevalent in the service industry, these

factors cause myriad sources of distress (Grandey et al., 2015; Maini & Chugh, 2012).

Emotional displays are considered to be a necessity for contemporary employees as a matter

of survival within the work environment where emotional labour is required, such as service

industry jobs, as it determines an individual employee’s job security and pay (Grandey et al.,

2015). This is evidenced in the ‘Pret-A-Manger’ organisation where the employees ‘should

never be 'moody', or 'just here for the money’, and an employee’s loss of employment for

consulting an independent union for ‘Pret’ workers regarding emotional labour working

conditions (appendix B) (McDermott, 2013).

2.2.2 Individual emotions

Employees are often required to engage in positive affective emotions, regardless of

their honest feelings about the job, the situation, or the customer (Grandey et al., 2015).

Individual differences (personalities) influence the emotional labour strategy adopted within

the service context, such differences influence a person’s job-fit (Humphrey et al., 2015).

From a person-centric perspective, literature proposes that not even the most extraverted and

agreeable person can not be expected to portray positive emotions in response to all people

consistently, although employees are expected to maintain positive expressions in emotional

labour occupations such as the service industry (Grandey et al., 2015). Therefore individuals

employed in the service context must be intrinsically motivated to engage in effective

emotion regulation and maintain the regulatory resources to meet emotional demands,

(Grandey et al., 2015). Individuals in the service context are often undervalued and their



efforts to display emotional labour expectations are under-compensated and yet expected by

the public as emotional labour has been generalised under the umbrella of ‘good customer

service’ (Cho et al., 2013; Grandey et al., 2015; Lapointe et al., 2012).

2.3 Implications on organisational behaviour

Literature highlights that organisations implement emotion display rules with the

underlying assumption that an organisations requirement that employees display positively

appropriate emotions relevant is that sincere emotional displays, also referred to as good

‘affective delivery’, has a positive impact on organisational outcomes such as improved

organisational performance (Goodwin et al., 2011). Contrary to this perspective, literature

stipulates that the authenticity of required positive emotions from employees induces

dissonance and depleted resources, consequently impeding task performance as well as

threatening well-being (Grandey et al., 2015; Humphrey et al., 2015; Lapointe et al., 2012).

Grandey et al. (2015) identifies the inattention to employee needs as a consequence

to emotional labour expectations as, limiting self-determination, threatening autonomy,

competence, and belongingness. Literature further recognizes emotion performance may not

benefit organisational productivity, as focusing on friendliness rather than efficiency does not

benefit organisational profits (Grandey & Gabriel, 2015). Therefore it is evident that the

requirement of emotional labour in the service context comes with trade-offs, effecting

aspects of job performance and having the overall impact of net loss for the organisation

(Grandey et al., 2015).

2.3.1 Employee performance

The actions and behaviours controlled by individual employees contribute to

organisational goals, therefore employee performance is an important construct within

service industry context (Goodwin et al., 2011). Employee performance, in the service

industry, refers to tangible service delivery and intangible aspects such as interpersonal

behaviour and emotional display (e.g., responsiveness, empathy) (Goodwin et al., 2011).

Grandey et al. (2015), identify that, despite proposed benefits of smiling, emotional labour

has human costs, such as the somatic symptoms of job dissatisfaction and job burnout

(Grandey & Diamond, 2010; Lapointe et al., 2012). Contrary to this perspective, deep acting

is considered to be positively correlated with employee performance as it involves the



expression of real emotions and influences a sense of personal accomplishment (Humphrey et

al., 2015; Goodwin et al., 2011).

In the circumstance where emotion display demands exceed the individual’s self-

control resources, resulting in a depletion of the individual employee’s performance (Grandey

et al., 2015). Studies indicate that the emotional labour demand in the service context

“impairs subsequent self-regulatory performance on attentional tasks, decision-making, and

physical exertion (Grandey et al., 2015, p. 772). Literature supports this with the findings that

individuals experiencing a depleted self-regulatory state have a higher tendency to engage in

anti-social behaviours such as ineffective self-presentation and inappropriate self-disclosure

(Grandey & Gabriel, 2015).

2.3.2 Employee turnover

Literature has posited that emotional labour potentially contributes to employee

turnover (Goodwin et al., 2011). Employee turnover is a critical concern for many

organisations, research findings demonstrates that employee satisfaction and commitment

positively effects organisational performance (Cho et al., 2013; Goodwin et al., 2011;

Ramachandran et al., 2011). Employees who regularly engage in the practice of emotional

labour have the tendency to adopt the attitude that they work in an unsuitable environment,

consequently influencing employee withdrawal cognitions and behaviours (Goodwin et al.,

2011). When employees experience a discrepancy between their internal and external

emotional experience (surface acting), it is common for such individuals to express turnover

intentions and emotional exhaustion (Cho et al, 2013). Grandey et al. (2015) suggest that over

a duration of time, chronic depletion influences an increase in turnover intentions as well as

quit rates.



3.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, through the exploration of the relevant emotional labour theories and

concepts, it is apparent that emotions are integral to an individual’s reasoning process which

influences motivation and behaviour within the service context (Humphrey, 2012). Thus

organisations must consider emotional labour implications as emotional behaviour has

become an intrinsic component to understanding expected behaviours in organisations and

the influence it has on organisational effectiveness.

It is suggested that organisations replace emotional requirements and escalating

worker coercion with humanistic practices, this may be achieved by reducing employee costs

(Grandey et al., 2015). thus replacing emotion display policies and rules with practices which

support and value employees, this may have the positive outcome where employees

experience authentic positive emotions, subsequently reducing human costs and increasing

organisation effectiveness (Grandey et al., 2015). Therefore on a theoretical and practical

level, by reducing the depletion of self-regulatory resources and producing authentic

emotions (deep-acting), this may influence service success (Goodwin et al., 2011). This

report evidences that emotional labour is a consequence to the inappropriate use of the

surface-acting emotional labour strategy (Humphrey et al., 2015).



4.0 References

Allen, J. A., Diefendorff, J. M., & Ma, Y. (2014). Differences in emotional labor across

cultures: A comparison of chinese and U.S. service workers. Journal of Business and

Psychology, 29(1), 21-35. doi:10.1007/s10869-013-9288-7

Blau, G., Fertig, J., Tatum, D. S., Connaughton, S., Park, D. S., & Marshall, C. (2010).

Further scale refinement for emotional labor: Exploring distinctions between types of

surface versus deep acting using a difficult client referent. Career Development

International, 15(2), 188-216. doi:10.1108/13620431011040969

Cho, Y., Rutherford, B. N., & Park, J. (2013). The impact of emotional labor in a retail

environment. Journal of Business Research, 66(5), 670-677.

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.04.001

Crossman, J., & Hatzinikolakis, J. (2010). Are business academics in australia experiencing

emotional labour?: A call for empirical research. Journal of Management and

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Goodwin, R. E., Groth, M., & Frenkel, S. J. (2011). Relationships between emotional labor,

job performance, and turnover. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(2), 538-548.

doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2011.03.001

Grandey, A. A., & Diamond, J. A. (2010). Interactions with the public: Bridging job design

and emotional labor perspectives. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2-3), 338-

350. doi:10.1002/job.637

Grandey, A., & Gabriel, A. (2015). Emotional labor at a crossroads: Where do we go from

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Grandey, A. A., Rupp, D., & Brice, W. N. (2015). Emotional labor threatens decent work: A

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Humphrey, R. H. (2012). How do leaders use emotional labor? Journal of Organizational

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Humphrey, R. H., Ashforth, B. E., & Diefendorff, J. M. (2015). The bright side of emotional

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Lapointe, É., Alexandre J S Morin, Courcy, F., Boilard, A., & Payette, D. (2012). Workplace

affective commitment, emotional labor and burnout: A multiple mediator model.

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Lee, C., An, M., & Noh, Y. (2015; 2014). The effects of emotional display rules on flight

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Maini, V., & Chugh, S. (2012). Emotional labor: A psychological manipulation for

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McCance, A. S., Nye, C. D., Wang, L., Jones, K. S., & Chiu, C. (2013). Alleviating the

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McDermott, K. (2013, February 3). Revealed: Pret a Manger’s bizarre ‘emotional labour’

rules for workers who are told to ‘be happy’, touch each other and NEVER act

moody. Daily Mail Australia. Retrieved from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272400/Revealed-Pret-Mangers-bizarre-

emotional-labour-rules-workers-told-happy-touch-NEVER-act-moody.html

Pisaniello, S. L., Winefield, H. R., & Delfabbro, P. H. (2012). The influence of emotional

labour and emotional work on the occupational health and wellbeing of south

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157.

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5.0 Appendices

Appendix A: flow chart- emotional labour

(Grandey & Gabriel, 2015)



Appendix B: Pret-A-Manger media article

(McDermott, 2013).

(McDermott, 2013).

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Organisational Behaviour_ EL report